ABSTRACT
I n the field of cognitive robotics, much attention has focused on the tech-nical challenges and approaches to building social robots and intelligent agents. However, few works explore how the aesthetic qualities of shape change influence how people perceive such an agent. Our contribution to this book focuses on the human responses to objects that change shape in response to input from users, environment, or other circumstances. In this chapter we discuss the term imagined physics1, meaning how actuated devices are in one sense tied to their physical form, yet through the use of actuators, sensors, and computer algorithms can behave in ways that are surprising, unpredictable and that might even be perceived as magical. We also claim that shape change can help reveal the state of a robot or object, providing cues for mentalizing, similar to how we read emotions and understand body posture and other non-verbal communication when interacting with people. We review examples of shape-changing interfaces including toys, interactive lights, robots, etc, noting the intentions – or claims about intent - made by the respective designers.
